Marvin Zalman, emeritus professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

The exoneration of wrongfully convicted prisoners is now a feature of popular culture. As a result, many are generally familiar with aspects of the innocence movement such as the Innocence Project. I will describe the development and structure of the innocence movement. More specifically, I review the impact of scholarship and research on the movement. Wrongful conviction literature was sparse throughout the twentieth century.  Nevertheless, psychological eyewitness research and the development of DNA profiling stimulated the rise of the innocence movement.  Innocence research has expanded in volume and sophistication.  Four academic domains – psychology, law, forensic science, and criminology (and other social sciences) – provide the basis for effective innocence reforms.    

Marvin Zalman taught at the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice from 1971 to 1980 and at Wayne State University’s Department of Criminal Justice (now Criminology and Criminal Justice) from 1980 until his retirement in 2023. He has a law degree and a Ph.D. degree from the State University of New York at Albany. He began teaching a class on wrongful convictions in 2003 and thereafter made “actual innocence” his research focus.

Contact a.marotti@wayne.edu to join via Zoom.

A Wayne State University Emeritus Academy Colloquium Series presentation.